Los Angeles Times: The U.S. Travel Assn. released a study Thursday, estimating that in 2023, the U.S. is projected to lose $11.6 billion in tourism spending because 6.6 million international travelers will be unable to get visitor visas to travel to the U.S. in a timely manner. Wait times of 400 days and longer to get an interview for a visitor’s visa have deterred potential tourists primarily from Brazil, India and Mexico, according to the study. (By Hugo Martin, Oct. 6, 2022)
Bloomberg Law: “Excessive visa delays are essentially a travel ban—no one is going to wait 1-2 years to interview with a U.S. government official to gain permission to visit the United States,” Geoff Freeman, the CEO and president of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement. (By Andrew Kreighbaum, Oct. 6, 2022)
POLITICO – Morning Transportation: The travel industry says wait times for visitor visa interviews exceed 400 days for first-time applicants from key countries, a snag that is hurting U.S. tourism efforts to rebound from the pandemic. The U.S. Travel Association on Thursday published a new analysis showing that an estimated 6.6 million potential visitors will be prevented from traveling to the United States in 2023 at a loss of $11.6 billion in projected spending. (By Alex Daugherty, Oct. 7, 2022)
CBS News Radio – Eye on Travel: “All of us have gotten used to throughout COVID waiting for some things…but there’s a point where it reaches a level of absurdity, and that’s what we’re seeing with the issues with the visas now. If you’re a traveler from Brazil, from India, from Mexico…the wait times to get an interview, just to get permission to come into the United States, are 400…500…600 days. You tell me…who in their right mind is going to choose the United States over another destination?” said Geoff Freeman. (By Peter Greenberg, Oct. 8, 2022)
Skift: Newly released estimates on the impact to the economy from visa wait times are a bad sign for a recovering travel industry — and clearly the blame is growing against a State Department that shows no signs of resolving the unprecedented delays. (By Dawit Habtemariam, Oct. 6, 2022)
TravelPulse: On the heels of lawmakers pushing for visa processing improvements, the U.S. Travel Association has called on the State Department to make first-time visitor visa processing an economic priority, even sharing policy recommendations to help resolve the problem. (By Patrick Clarke, Oct. 6, 2022)
